Chiefs search for discipline
Dogged, determined and desperate, but it’s another D word which the Chiefs are focusing on as they face the Blues in Auckland on Friday night looking to keep alive their slim chances of topping Super Rugby’s New Zealand conference. Discipline. Again having troubles with penalties, the Chiefs are the thirdequal most-pinged team in the competition, their average of 10.6 per game on par with the Kings, and behind just the Jaguares (10.7) and Force (10.9). They have had the most penalty goals (39) kicked against them, and prop Kane Hames is the most penalised player in the competition (18 from 10 matches).
Despite a 9-2 win-loss record, the Chiefs have only been on the right side of a penalty count once this season, ironically in their only other loss, to the Stormers in Cape Town, where it read 7-5. Three times they have had a levelpegging, but more often than not have been on the sharp end of the whistle, including 14-5 counts against both the Blues in Hamilton and Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
While on those occasions it didn’t come to much, the Chiefs know they can’t afford to be so illdisciplined when it comes to the
crunch, with the infringing rearing its ugly head in last Friday’s 31-24 loss to the Crusaders in Fiji, where Richie Mo’unga’s accurate goalkicking made them pay, on the back of a 9-4 count which coach Dave Rennie said included ones’’.
It’s not a new problem for them either, under Rennie’s watch. While they were good enough to overcome it in back-to-back titlewins then another playoffs appearance, the team was conceding the most penalties of any side through 2012-14. Another finals effort in 2015 was despite them being the most penalised side, with 12.6 per game and Liam Messam the competition’s worst offender (21 in 13 matches), while last year, with a semifinals appearance, the Chiefs had picked up their game some-
‘‘some soft and dumb what, at a far-improved 8.8 penalties per outing, but were still midtable in the discipline department.
Co-captain Aaron Cruden said he hoped his side’s historical toll wasn’t playing a role in referees’ eyes, but he did believe their offending this year was beginning to play a part for the officials.
‘‘It seems to be a bit of a talking point in our reviews most weeks. It is starting to get to a point where I guess the referees are heading into games with a bit of a perception that we’re an ill-disciplined side,’’ he said.
‘‘Some of them [the penalties], when you look back at them are a little bit harsh, but we’ve just got to adapt to the man in the middle who has the whistle and make sure that we’re doing everything we can so that we don’t put ourselves in those positions again.’’
Cruden said the coaching team had good contact with the referees post-matches and were able to bring back feedback, with the onus on the players to get things right.
‘‘Ultimately it’s about us in the middle adapting to the referee, not the other way around,’’ he said.
‘‘It is a big balancing act. You always want to try and push the boundaries but play within the letters of the law.
‘‘But we need to be a lot better, [we’re] giving away a lot of points through penalties, and that just keeps the scoreboard ticking over for the opposition and applying scoreboard pressure for us.
‘‘Us as players need to be accountable for that, and make sure we’re doing everything to display to the referees that we are trying to do things by the letter of the law, and hopefully they see that in the coming weeks.’’
With the Chiefs 11 points adrift of the Crusaders, they effectively need to win their remaining four regular season matches to be a shot at topping the conference for all-important home advantage come playoff time.
They’ll look to keep a stunning winning streak going against the Blues, having been victorious in the last 11 contests, stretching all the way back to March, 2011.
The Blues, meanwhile, have remarkably won just one of their past 21 New Zealand derbies, and need to get a result to be any hope of making the playoffs.
‘‘We know they’re going to be fighting and scrapping for their season, so we know, certainly, they’re going to be up for it even though they’ve had to travel all the way back from Cape Town,’’ Cruden said.